The New Way to Settle Claims.
Your Insurer Has Its Adjuster. A Blue Star Public Adjuster Is Yours.
After a fire, flood or storm, your insurance company sends its own adjuster to decide what your claim is worth. That adjuster works for the insurer. A public adjuster is licensed to work only for you, the policyholder. Blue Star Adjusters measures the full loss, builds your claim and negotiates the settlement, for homeowners and businesses in California and five other western states.
We level the playing field.
What the Carrier Offered.
What We Recovered.
Having a licensed public adjuster evaluate the loss can result in an entirely different financial outcome for the policyholder.
-
Los Angeles house fire, full strip out.
We measured the structural damage and proved the subfloor and electrical needed a full strip out.
Offered $38,000.
Settled at $276,000.
-
Smoke damage.
An industrial hygienist proved the combustion byproducts in the home’s porous materials and doors.
Offered $17,000.
Settled for about $1.1 million.
-
Estate fire, fine wine and art.
The owner recovered $6 million on his own, then the claim stalled on the fine wine and art.
With Blue Star, the structure settled at $11 million, with $5.2 million more for contents.
Results reflect specific losses and policies. Past results don’t guarantee a similar outcome.
Where Claims Go Wrong. Where We Start.
The Insurer Writes the First Estimate.
Everything Else Is Argued From It.
Most people assume the insurance company’s adjuster is there to help them. That adjuster is there to settle the claim for the insurer, and the first estimate sets the number everyone argues from later. These are the places claims usually go wrong.
-
The estimate prices a repair, not a rebuild to current code.
-
Smoke and water damage get written up as cleaning, until they turn into something bigger.
-
The file changes hands. Each new adjuster starts over, and you explain it all again.
-
Contents are listed from memory, and what isn’t listed isn’t paid.
-
The rental runs out before the rebuild is finished.
Our ability to affect your outcome diminishes with time.
What Can a Public Adjuster Do for Me?
A public adjuster reads your policy, measures and documents the full loss, builds an itemized claim and negotiates with your insurer on your behalf. You decide on every offer. Some people call us a public insurance adjuster or a private adjuster. Whatever the name, a public adjuster works for the policyholder and never for the insurance company.
Four buckets. We measure each one.
- Dwelling. The structure, returned to its condition before the loss and to current code.
- Other structures. Fences, decks, garages, barns, guest houses.
- Contents. Everything inside, from furniture to fine art.
- Loss of use. Comparable living while you’re displaced, including pet accommodations where your policy allows.
- We read the whole policy, including every endorsement, before we tell you what it should pay.
- We measure what the first estimate missed: hidden water, smoke in porous materials, code upgrades.
- Then we build the claim line by line and present it with your approval.
- We negotiate. You always have final say on any settlement.
A Major Loss Is More
Than a Claim.
When a home burns or a building floods, everything happens at once. You may be living in a hotel, keeping a business running from somewhere else, and chasing receipts, all while learning a policy you never had reason to read. The decisions that set your settlement are made in the first few weeks, often before you know what to ask for. We handle the claim so you can look after your family or keep your business running.
Who we serve
Senior Led.
Start to Finish.
Every Blue Star claim is led by a senior adjuster, from the first call to the final settlement. The person who reads your policy is the person who negotiates it. We built the firm that way on purpose, so you get the experience of a large firm without being handed off.
Michael Rapport founded Blue Star Adjusters. Before that, he was a top producer at one of the nation’s leading public adjusting firms, across hundreds of losses.
Senior adjuster on every claim
NAPIA and PCAPIA member
Michael Rapport, Founding Principal
Meet Michael Rapport, licensed public adjuster
Same Experience.
A New Way.
- No upfront cost. We’re paid a percentage of what we recover.
- You always have final say on any settlement.
- CA DOI License No. 6015234
We left a legacy firm to build something leaner, more responsive, and focused entirely on you.
No Conflict of Interest.
An insurance company adjuster works for the company that pays the claim. A public adjuster works for the policyholder. California makes every public adjuster put it in the contract: “We represent the insured only.”
Your Home.
Fully Recovered.
When your home is damaged, your insurer sends their adjuster. We send ours: a senior adjuster who measures what your rebuild will cost and won’t let the carrier set the scope.
- Fire, wildfire and smoke
- Water and plumbing
- Wind, hail and falling trees
- Contents and valuables
- Living expenses while you’re displaced
Your Business.
Fully Recovered.
Commercial claims are more complex: more code requirements, more stakeholders, more ways for carriers to undervalue the loss. When a business burns, payroll, customers, suppliers and the landlord all wait on the same scope. We write that scope first.
- Building and structural losses
- Lost income and extra expense
- Equipment and inventory
- Code and seismic upgrades
What It Costs
And if we don’t think we can add value to your claim, we’ll tell you at the free review.
Public adjuster fees, explained-
No upfront cost. We’re paid a percentage of what we recover.
-
The percentage is agreed in writing before we start, and in California our fee can never leave you with less than your insurer had already paid before you hired us.
-
In California, you may cancel within three business days of signing and receiving the contract, or five calendar days if your property is in a declared catastrophic disaster area.
Is There a Public Adjuster Near Me?
Local Codes. Local Contractors.
Very likely, if you’re in California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Arizona or Colorado. Blue Star Adjusters is licensed in all six.
10 offices
6 licensed states
Offices from Hawaii to Colorado, and from Santa Monica to Seattle. We know your community, your local codes and your local contractors.
Looking for a public adjuster in California? Our California offices are in Sacramento, San Francisco and Santa Monica. Head office: 1610 R Street, Suite 300, Sacramento, California 95811.
- Santa Monica
- Sacramento
- San Francisco
- Reno
- Portland
- Seattle
- Scottsdale
- Utah
- Hawaii
- Colorado
Monday to Friday, 9 AM to 5 PM Pacific. We call back the same business day.
Questions About Hiring a Public Adjuster
Why hire my own public adjuster when my insurance company already sent one?
Their adjuster works for the insurance company. A public adjuster is licensed to work only for you, the policyholder. We start from their estimate and measure what it left out.
Does a public adjuster slow the claim down?
It can. A 2010 Florida state study of claims filed at Citizens Property Insurance in 2008 and 2009 (OPPAGA Report 10-06) found that claims with a public adjuster took longer to settle than claims without one, and that the payments were higher before fees. More of the loss gets measured and argued, and that takes time.
When is it too late to hire a public adjuster?
Usually it isn’t, even with an offer in hand. We can reopen scope before you accept. The earlier we’re in, the more room we have to work.
How do I check a public adjuster’s license in California?
Public adjusters in California are licensed by the California Department of Insurance. Before you sign, look the license number up on the Department’s license search. Ours is CA DOI License No. 6015234.
Will my insurer treat me differently if I hire one?
Carriers work with public adjusters every day. The difference is what gets measured.
Do you do the repairs?
No. We measure and negotiate. Your contractor builds.
More on Property Insurance Claims
Your Claim. Our Fight.
Call Before the Carrier
Sets the Narrative.
Your insurance company has an adjuster protecting their interests. You have the right to one too.
- No upfront cost. We’re paid a percentage of what we recover.
- CA DOI License No. 6015234
Field photograph